Cardinal Richelieu
Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu (September 9, 1585 – December 4, 1642), was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman. Consecrated as a bishop in 1607, he later entered politics, becoming a Secretary of State in 1616. Richelieu soon rose in both the Church and the state, becoming a cardinal in 1622, and King Louis XIII's chief minister in 1624. He remained in office until his death in 1642; he was succeeded by Cardinal Mazarin. The Cardinal de Richelieu is considered to be the world's first Prime Minister in the modern sense of the term. He sought to consolidate the royal power of the monarchy and crush domestic factions. By restraining the power of the nobility, he transformed France into a strong, centralized state. His chief foreign policy objective was to check the power of the Austro-Spanish Habsburg dynasty. Although he was a cardinal, he did not hesitate to make alliances with Protestant rulers in attempting to achieve this goal. A shrewd statesman, Richelieu is nevertheless notable for the authoritarian measures he employed to maintain power. He censored the press, established a large network of internal spies, forbade the discussion of political matters in public assemblies, and had those who dared to conspire against him prosecuted and executed. He was a leading character in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père and its subsequent film adaptations, portrayed as a main antagonist, and a powerful ruler, even more powerful than the King himself, though events like the Day of the Dupes show that in fact he very much depended on the King to keep this power. While some modern historians see him as a patriotic supporter of the monarchy, the book portrayed him as power-hungry, unscrupulous, and avaricious. His OTL legacy to modern international politics includes the ideas of a strong nation-state and aggressive foreign policy. The notions of national sovereignty and international law can be traced in part to Richelieu's policies and theories, especially as enunciated in the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years' War. Cardinal Richelieu in the 1632 series Cardinal Richelieu openly declared himself (and by extension France, an enemy of the United States of Europe, hatched several plots against first the New United States (NUS), as well as Gustavus Adolphus. Richelieu first alligned himself with Albrecht von Wallenstein to attack Grantville in mid-1632. The attacked failed due to a combination of Grantville's firearms and the timely arrival of Gustvaus in his guise of Captain Gars. In response, the NUS and Gustavus realligned their arrangement into the USE. Foiled, Richelieu began aiding Habsburg Spain hoping to involve the kingdom in a more directly in Germany, a state he'd sought to avoid previously. Consequently, he arranged the League of Ostend, which involved both Catholic and Protestant powers. The League's first success was the defeat of the Dutch Fleet, laying open the Netherlands to a successful invasion by an expeditionary force in 1633. Meanwhile, the League attacked in the Baltic, sending a combined Dutch and French army to attack overland, and a combined fleet of French, English and Danish ships to cut Gustavus off from the Baltic Sea lines of communications (SLOCs)— in effect, a powerful move in an attempt to starve him out and cut him off from Sweden. After the surrender of France's ally Denmark and the detestation of the French army in 1634, Richelieu faced opposition from within France. Category:1632 Characters Category:Historical Figures Category:Catholics Category:Nobility Category:Clergy Category:Frenchmen